All posts by Nanette

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Atmosphere matters. While I do believe one should invest in making the home beautiful, decorating your home for the holiday does not have to cost a fortune. For me, Christmas is a time to increase comfort, mood and overall happiness in the home. Adding drama and beauty to a living space just takes a little creativity.

I love candles. Placing them around the home adds a sense of warmth. Every home needs that. I usually get the candles with the strongest aroma. Choose your favorite fragrance and place them around your house. Just try and stick to one fragrance to ensure there is one smell throughout the house. Pumpkin spice is my scent of choice this year.

Then there is the Christmas tree. Anything goes when choosing decorations for the tree. Ribbons, candy canes, popcorn or whatever your heart desires will do. I’ve had the same ornaments for the last 2 years, gold stars with different shapes and sizes. Once you add the lights to the tree it just pops regardless of what you’ve chosen to decorate it with.

Adding flowers can be both affordable and beautiful. I have these poinsettias in almost every room in the house. I love the deep red color and that fact that they are easy to care for.

Lastly, there’s nothing like a warm fire to keep you warm while you enjoy all those holiday movies.

This is the time of year to spread a little joy and cheer. What better way to do that than with some great music. Whether you’re trying to set the tone at home for a little holiday romance or just have some joyous sounds of praise playing in the house, music is the best place to start.

The power of music is undeniable. It can move us to praise, to dance, or even to cry. It can help us during times of stress and chaos. It even has the ability to push us further when we need that extra oomph to exercise harder or longer. Music is powerful stuff and an integral part of our lives. In today’s Reason for the Season Home Challenge we encourage you to put on your favorite holiday music or any music that you enjoy, and sing and dance. Here is what I’m enjoying for the holiday.

There’s a little bit of everything on these CD’s, everything from Whitney Houston with The Georgia Mass Choir singing “Joy to the World” to some saxophone-led romantic Christmas classics like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Song”. I threw the Motown Anniversary Collection in just because. I mean who can resist Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, anytime of the year?

So, put on some music and bring a sweet harmony to your home for the holidays. Enjoy! And let the sounds and rhythms lead you toward joy and peace. Oh, and don’t forget to visit www.wifemotherfirstlady.com for the Reason for the Season FAMILY Challenge.

Ever since I can remember, my mother has been a lover of fashion. I can recall going to Dee Dee’s or Shame’s Boutiques with her on Saturdays in Mississippi and watching her choose the most beautiful clothes and accessories. Because of her influence, I have such a great affinity for gloves, clutch purses, shoes and dresses. More specifically, St. John knit dresses. One of her favorite things to wear is St. John by Marie Gray. She can put on one of those knit dresses with some high heels and rock it like nobody’s business. Here is one of the dresses she passed on to me. It’s one of the few that survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Wish she still had the pictures of herself wearing this dress, but the hurricane destroyed them.
The dress is about 30 years old and it is still in good condition. She always says you get what you pay for and I guess she’s right. It has a few areas that need some TLC but for the most part it is totally wearable. It had shoulder pads but I removed them of course. I love the yellow but I’m finding it to be a difficult color to accessorize. Back in the day mama would wear gold or brown shoes with it to balance out the boldness of the yellow.

I can hardly wait to wear this dress. When summer rolls around, I plan to pair it with some gold shoes just like mama; Gold wedge peep toe Via Spiga heels and this great necklace I found in mama’s jewelry drawer. Now I just need to find the right belt to wear with it.

Anyone else out there who loves St. John by Marie Gray or maybe another great designer? Who was or is your greatest fashion influence?